


The Necklace

by LaBelleetlaloup



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Book One: Water, Canon Compliant, Firebending & Firebenders, Gen, POV Katara, POV Zuko, Season/Series 01, Waterbending & Waterbenders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:22:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaBelleetlaloup/pseuds/LaBelleetlaloup
Summary: The Adventure of Gran-Gran's Necklace





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, I may have watched the entire series in just over a week. I have Ideas. (I have not abandoned the TW series. I've got some written for the next part but it's not ready to post yet.)
> 
> Also, I'm really not sure what kind of pendant it's supposed to be and I didn't see any official explanation. So I went with an "ice jewel". It's a piece of glacier ice that's hardened into crystal like diamond. Water bending is involved.

The prison ship had been badly damaged. The crew was decimated, many of them – including the captain – lost to the ocean before they could be recovered. All the prisoners had escaped. But Zuko still felt a smile tugging at his lips. A bit of ribbon fluttering in the breeze had caught his eye among the rubble and once he had picked it up, he had recognized the pendant. The waterbender girl traveling with the Avatar wore one just like it. Zuko would be damned if this wasn’t the exact same one. It was good leather ribbon, if now too short for use, and the pendant was a fine carving. Surely it was an heirloom. This might give him some leverage. He palmed the pendant and stood, turning to face the remainder of the crew.

“I do not see how we can be of much further assistance. The prisoners are long gone. We are only one ship. You seem to have already recovered all the crew you can. Will you be able to repair the damages?”

“Yes, Prince Zuko,” one of the soldiers nodded emphatically.

“Then I need to continue tracking the Avatar.”

“Best of luck, my lord.”

“I don’t need luck,” Zuko scoffed.

“Thank you for the sentiment,” Iroh was saying behind him. Yes, that too. 

Zuko turned his palm up and eyed the pendant thoughtfully. He would have to keep it on his person to ascertain he had his leverage when they caught up to the Avatar.

“Zuko, what have you got there?” Iroh asked.

“Leverage,” he told his uncle with a smile.

*

Katara was staring morosely out at the clouds. Although they had managed to inspire the earth-benders into helping themselves, it had not been easy and it was depressing thinking of how much devastation and despair the Fire Nation had brought to the rest of the world over the past hundred years.

“Katara!” Sokka suddenly gasped her name. “Your necklace!”

“What…” Katara brought her hand up to her neck. Her pendent was not there. Some of the leather band was caught in her braid around the knot, but at least half the length was gone. “No.”

“What happened?” Aang asked without turning around.

“I lost my necklace.”

“Oh,” Aang turned his head. “I’m sorry Katara.”

“We don’t have time to go back,” Sokka said. Katara shook her head. It was too dangerous.

“I must have lost it on the ship. I had it before then.”

“Gran-Gran will understand.” Sokka wrapped his arm around her. “She always does.”

“But…” Katara trailed off. She did not want Gran-Gran to understand. She wanted to have her necklace back. It had also been their mother’s.

“I know,” Sokka murmured, tugging her in closer. Sometimes he was a good older brother. Katara buried her face in his shoulder and clung on to him like she was a child again. How could she have lost it and not even noticed?

*

Zuko had decided to wear the pendant as a bracelet rather than risk it falling out of a pocket. However, there was not even enough of the original ribbon left to span his wrist, forget secure the pendant. Once safely in his berth, he carefully detached the pendant from the leather band. It had been carefully sewn on but it was not too difficult to cut the stitches. Zuko had first thought that the pendant was made of metal, being a light bluish gray color, but part of that had to have been the black leather. As he held it up to the light, it glowed like a jewel. Well, that was certainly good craftsmanship, if it was a carved jewel. It really was a shame that the carving on the pendant was a water bending emblem or Zuko might have been tempted to keep it. But the search for the Avatar must be prioritized. Perhaps the girl might be willing to give up the Avatar to get back what was surely a prized heirloom. At least, she might inadvertently give herself away or provide a crucial distraction. Perhaps he could use it as bait to lure them in… Zuko lost himself in pleasant musings of various schemes to catch the slippery air bender while eyeing the pleasant blue glow of the pendant by firelight.

“Zuko!” Iroh woke him out of his daze by knocking on his door. Zuko startled and nearly dropped the pendant before managing to successfully catch it. He hurriedly hid the leather band in the box of trinkets on his desk as the door was opening.

“Yes, uncle?” he asked. Iroh was just peeking around the door.

“Are you not coming to dinner?”

“Yes. I was meditating.” It was true of a fashion. He had been watching the changing glow of the fire, just through a jewel. And he certainly had lost track of the hour.

“I will await you at the table.” Iroh nodded and withdrew, closing the door behind him even as Zuko replied.

“Yes, uncle, I’ll just be a moment.” For the time being, Zuko dropped the pendant in the box with the band and shut the lid. He hurriedly tidied himself up for supper and then hurried down. Now that he was paying attention, he was rather hungry.

Supper was a quiet affair. Iroh did not ask about the necklace Zuko had picked up. They had little indication as to which way the Avatar had gone from the ship. There had not yet been any declared sighting of his flying bison. So there was no use in even broaching that subject. They would merely continue a northward course. The Avatar had to be trained and the only water-benders left in the world were at the North Pole. He did seem to be heading that direction, albeit seemingly without any hurry.

After supper, Zuko went back to his berth. He pulled the pendant back out and stared at it for a long moment. He needed some kind of ribbon to secure it. Zuko briefly considered using some sort of plain cord, something that he wouldn’t mind losing. But the jewel deserved a better setting than that. Zuko had taken with him several mementos of his mother’s when he had been banished. One of her hair ribbons had been a thick scarlet silk embroidered with darker thread, a pretty geometric pattern reminiscent of dragons. Although it was foolish, Zuko pulled the small locked chest from the drawer and unlocked it. He smiled wistfully at his mother’s hair ribbons and favorite necklace and golden bracelet. He pulled out the ribbon he had first thought of. The red and the blue of the gem contrasted well. Zuko slipped the silk through the stud of the pendant and centered the jewel before tying it securely around his wrist. The ribbon was long enough that he could cover the jewel with the ribbon and tie off the ends so it would not bounce as he moved. That was convenient. Zuko ran a hand over his mother’s things. He almost imagined he could smell her favorite perfume. But that was a child’s fancy. Zuko closed the chest and locked it again and put it away. Wrapping the water bender’s jewel in his mother’s hair ribbon was quite enough foolishness for one day. Zuko sighed deeply as he looked at his newly adorned wrist. He stood up and started undressing. Clearly it was time for bed.

*

Neither Sokka nor Katara was terribly surprised by Aang’s reaction to the swath of burned forest land that the Fire Nation had left in their wake. Even after seeing skeletons of his teachers at his old home, it was still taking a bit to sink in that the Fire Nation was willing to do whatever it took to subdue the other kingdoms. Aang was only two years younger than Katara but she had grown up in a war and he had grown up protected by monks in a temple. It seemed as though she was many years older than Aang sometimes. Aang, of course, had to fly down and see up close. Katara and Sokka let it happen. Appa probably needed a rest anyway. They had been flying for nearly two days as it was and seemed to be making good enough time.

Aang, having a very abstract concept of the cycle of life and death in growing things, was immediately distraught at the picture of devastation. Katara also felt a great sadness at the destruction, but she knew that nothing was entirely permenant. Sure enough, there were acorns covering the ground. The forest would grow back eventually, stronger than it had been for the nutrients given back to the earth.

Katara lobbed an acorn at Aang’s head. He did not immediately get it. She had to explain the concept of seeds to him. It caused her a moment of panic. If he had not absorbed the concept of cycles and seeds in regards to plants, then had anyone told him about people? Katara had agreed to go with him to the Northern Water Tribe, at least half her motivation being her own water bending training. She had not agreed to explain to him where babies came from. Of course, leaving it to Sokka was an equally bad idea. Perhaps their water bending master would be someone that she could hint to that Aang needed an explanation of the human body…

Katara’s momentary panic was interrupted by a man hurrying closer and begging Aang for help. He spoke of a spirit harassing the village. Sokka and Katara exchanged a look. Aang, of course, was already agreeing.

“Maybe we’ll be able to get some more food, and it’ll give us a chance to do laundry,” Sokka pointed out in an undertone. Katara nodded. They only had so much money and the North Pole was still a long way off. Aang had brought nothing at all wherever he had been headed before he ended up in the iceberg for a hundred years. Taking charity was not something they were used to, but probably Aang would be able to help the villagers with this spirit, making it more like a trade of services for their food. Katara wondered if the spirit was mad about the destruction or if she had been mistaken and the spirit had caused the destruction because of some other slight rather than the Fire Nation being responsible.

As might have been expected, given that Aang was twelve and had not even properly completed his air-bending training – forget any guidance on his connection to the spirits – he did not get very far with the spirit. It screamed and destroyed the town and mostly ignored him. Sokka managed to get past the village elder and ran out to defend Aang with his club. Katara did not. Sokka got taken by the spirit. Katara did not. Aang flew after Sokka. Katara could not.

It was a long night. Katara kept watch at the gate. Neither Aang nor Sokka returned. She kept reaching up to touch her necklace, forgetting that she had lost it, which was only making everything worse. First she had lost a family heirloom. Now she had lost her brother. She should never have let Aang land here.

The next day passed in a blur. One of the villagers roused her from the gate a little after dawn. She vaguely remembered eating something, the act of chewing. She would not have been able say what it was she had eaten on pain of death. That she had no memory of. Katara thought that she slept. She remembered the feel of placing her head on a pillow. That night she was herded into the village hall with everyone else.

The spirit came back. But Aang did too, without Sokka but with an acorn.

Apparently the spirit had been a panda. It had been upset about the destruction of the forest. Katara found she did not care. All she cared about was that Sokka was stumbling his way out of the spirit world and back into the world of the living. 

Of course, then Katara had another concern. Aang was insistent that they had to leave immediately and head to Avatar Roku’s temple. Considering he had been a fire-bender, this temple was obviously in the Fire Nation. As though there were not enough problems following them, apparently they needed to chase trouble. But Aang was the one Appa listened to. So they got supplies from the villagers and got on Appa and headed for the Fire Nation.

As expected, it was a disaster.

First, the acolytes no longer served the Avatar. They served Fire Lord Ozai. Except one.

Then some commanding general in the army showed up. Katara got chained to a post with her brother.

Then Zuko showed up. Wasn’t this day just getting better and better?

Oddly, Zuko was also chained to a post. That was weird. The general had to wait because the door to the altar room was magically barred so Katara squinted at Zuko. Had something changed? The prince of the Fire Nation’s name was Zuko. They were the same age. So why would he be chained up? Surely that was treason. Zuko looked the same as he always did. Although he was now wearing a striking red ribbon around his wrist. That seemed like it was probably irrelevant to him being chained. It kept catching her attention. Zuko’s attention was on the temple doors.

Aang, channeling Roku, managed to save the day. He broke the chains. Zuko went out the side window. The lava under the temple came blasting up. The acolytes and the general and his soldiers ran for cover. Katara and Sokka waited on Aang and then Appa was hovering under the window. There was no further sight of Zuko. Probably that meant he was alive. Katara put it out of mind. He was violent and dangerous and none of their concern. They headed back towards the Earth Kingdom at top speed, angled only slightly north. Once they had gotten back over open waters, Sokka urged Aang to turn farther north. Katara agreed with the suggestion. They needed to get to the North Pole. They had only just over half a year before the Comet returned.

Unfortunately, they could not sustain their rations forever. Eventually they had to land and buy more food.

*

Zuko had been very irritated with his uncle for losing them a whole day’s travel over a simple game tile that he had not even managed to find. But now it seemed that the Avatar was easily within his grasp. Was this not convenient? Who else would have been dressed in Water Tribe blue and stolen a water-bending scroll? Zuko smiled, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over the jewel on his wrist, as he discussed the surrounding area with the pirates. Apparently there was a wide river that flowed out into the sea just outside of this trading port. They would have to be there and with such a scroll, they would be on the water.

As luck would have it, the girl was still on the river – training – as they drew closer to the source despite the sun sinking. Well… perhaps occasionally Zuko did have a bit of luck. Despite there being no way to hide their approach, they managed to move swiftly enough to intercept her before she could try to disappear into the forest.

“Where’s the Avatar?” he demanded.

“Far away from you,” she spat back. Well, that was clearly a lie, but also cunningly gave no hint whatsoever as to the direction of their camp. Zuko unwrapped the necklace from his wrist.

“Come now, don’t be foolish,” he tempered his voice to be softer, dangling the pendant in front of her eyes. “Just tell me which direction and I’ll give you this back. It’s a family heirloom, isn’t it? How could the Avatar be so important to you? You know we can’t kill him. It wouldn’t be worth the hassle of tracking down the next one. He’ll live a nice long life safely out of trouble.”

“Give me my mother’s necklace first. I don’t trust you.” Had she noticed that several of the pirates had already broken away and were scouring the surrounding area?

“Do you think me naïve enough to trust you?” Zuko countered. “You get it after I have him in custody.”

“So I have to take it on faith that you’ll manage to capture him and hold him for more than the time it takes to get him on your ship in order to get my family heirloom back? That’s no sort of deal.”

“This coming from a little girl who steals,” one of the pirates sneered. Zuko ignored him.

“You stole it first!” the girl did not.

Zuko took her chin in his hand and turned her face in his direction. “Do you want it back?” He swung the necklace in front of her face.

“What did you do to the leather band?” she asked sullenly.

“It was too short to do anything with,” Zuko replied dismissively. “Now. Which direction?”

“We found them,” one of the pirates announced. They were carting both the Avatar and the water tribe boy in nets. Well, you certainly couldn’t air-bend a net away. That was a smart choice. The blood drained out of her face. Zuko smiled.

“Nevermind, then,” he told her quietly. Then he addressed the pirates. “How capable. Your scroll is right here. Give me the prisoners.” Iroh generously put the scroll into Zuko’s hand. In the other he palmed the pendant. The water bender whimpered as it disappeared from sight. Well, hadn’t he been right, then?

Of course, Zuko had never been lucky. The obnoxious water tribe boy was more cunning than he had first suspected and successfully managed to convince the pirates to turn on Zuko and his uncle. Then they stole his ship. Zuko was left with no Avatar, a half-sunken ship at the bottom of a waterfall, and no expensive scroll he could offload to replenish his resources. This was typical. His uncle made noises about tea. Zuko sighed through his nose, exhaling tiny curls of smoke. At least he hadn’t lost the pendant. Zuko carefully tied it around his wrist. He watched the flying bison move across the sky. They were heading inland but probably they would be turning northwards once they were out of sight. He would try to recover his personal belongings from the ship and hopefully enough coin that he could continue heading north.

It was several weeks before Zuko was able to make any meaningful headway. They managed to recover the ship, but there was quite a bit of delay for repairs and grumbling had begun to crop up amongst the crew. Again. Once it had become clear that the Avatar could be found, they had been in higher spirits with Zuko, hoping for a return home in the near future. But now he had evaded them several times and escaped several other times. To add insult to injury, Zuko had to don a ceremonial mask from his mother’s family and go fetch the Avatar out of Zhao’s custody before the ambitious idiot got Zuko permanently banished with no way to regain his honor. And then the damned air bender flew away.

Finally though there was a breakthrough. Zuko found a bounty hunter with a very impressive assistant: a shirshu. It was blind and saw with its nose, making it an excellent tracker by scent. And it had a venom in its tongue that could paralyze a grown man for an hour. Surely that would allow Zuko time to get the Avatar properly contained. Zhao had managed to keep him in custody for hours with simple metal restraints affixed to the walls to keep him from flying away. Zuko convinced his uncle to spend the money to hire this mercenary and fished the leather band out of the box of trinkets. Spirits above only knew what the pendant smelled like at this point, wrapped in his mother’s hair ribbon on his wrist, but Zuko had not held the leather band for very long and the girl, or someone in her family, had probably worn it for years. The shirshu did catch a scent off it. The bounty hunter made a rude joke about tracking down his girlfriend but Zuko ignored it. Finally, things were looking up again.

Zuko knew better…

*

Katara was quite relieved that they had not seen Zuko in weeks. It was good for their health, although they had managed to find enough trouble without him. First they’d been taken in by Jet. Katara felt a wave of shame every time she thought about her first impression of him. They had only managed to save the villagers because of Sokka. Then they’d had to pass through the canyon and deal with two feuding tribes, both of which were heading to Ba Sing Se as refugees. Then they were out of both food and money so Sokka tried to take a job as a fisherman, only for an unnaturally deadly storm to sweep in. Luckily, Aang managed to save everyone but even the Avatar cannot save someone from catching a cold. Sokka got sick. Katara then got sick nursing him. Aang went out to get some medicine and was gone for what seemed like forever. Katara was too exhausted to get up, but she had not developed a fever. When Aang finally reappeared, it had been two full days since he had left, and he refused to explain himself. Katara was frustrated to no end. But she and Sokka recovered. It had only been a cold. So they pressed on. They needed to get to the North Pole. Of course, they stopped again. Another town. A volcano about to erupt. Katara was distracted by a fortune teller for several days on end. Aang managed to harden the lava into rock with airbending, creating a tall wall between the town and the mountain. Then northwards again.

This time, Katara was perfectly happy to stop. There was a boat from her father’s fleet sitting in the harbor. It was not Father, but it was Uncle Bato. They were not related by blood, but Bato and their Father were brothers by heart, and it was almost as good to see him. Someone who could reminisce with them. His room was filled with the regalia of their tribe: pelts, hoods, pickled sea prunes, fur and home. It was almost like being home. Luckily, Bato was not their father and did not ask about where Gran Gran’s necklace was. If he noticed she wasn’t wearing it, he must have assumed that she had left it back at the South Pole with Gran Gran.

The next day they went ice dodging through the currents in the rocks after a nice late breakfast. It was perfect. Sokka’s heart was singing. Bato was always so good to them. He marked Sokka as the Wise. Katara was given the crescent moon – bravery. Aang had been put on the other line. He was the trusted.

Of course, they could never just have a beautiful day. Aang had apparently intercepted the message from their father about his location and kept it from them for hours. They fought. Katara and Sokka headed out with Bato. But then they had to turn back and Zuko had caught up to them with some suggestively leather-clad woman riding some sort of horrid creature. Katara was tempted to slap her forehead in frustration. Sokka just pulled out his club.

It was a difficult fight. The horrid creature had a venom on its tongue and it took down Appa. Aang was facing off with Zuko, but Katara and Sokka were both trying to keep Iroh and the woman out of the way.

Once they had blinded the creature’s nose, it accidentally hit Zuko and the woman, who landed on Iroh, pinning him. Aang ran straight over to Appa. Sokka was stowing his weapons. Katara walked over to Zuko. That red ribbon he’d had her pendant on was still around his wrist. She picked up his limp arm and untied the ribbon. Her pendant was still on it. Thank the spirits.

“You really shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you,” she told him. She dropped his arm and it landed with a satisfying thump. He winced. Katara smiled. Served him right. She wrapped the ribbon through her fingers to keep from dropping it.

“I think Appa’s going to be okay,” Aang said, turning back her direction for the first time. Katara smiled back at him.

“That’s good.”

“What’ve you got there?” Sokka asked. Katara showed him the pendant. Sokka shot a glare in the fire benders’ direction.

Within a few moments, Appa had shaken off the remaining effects of the venom. They took off. Now they really needed to get to the North Pole. Once they were safely in the air, Katara looked at the ribbon her pendant was on.

“I wonder why it’s not on the leather?” Sokka asked.

“He said it was too short to bother with.”

“When did he say that?”

“When those pirates caught you. He was trying to get me to point the direction of the campsite in exchange for my necklace. Well, the ice jewel, at least.”

“Why did he think you would go for that?”

“Well, it is obviously beautifully crafted. He’s a bad person, but clearly he’s not an idiot. He is a very competent tracker. He does keep finding us and we’re flying.”

“That’s true,” Sokka frowned. “I guess I do have to concede he’s intelligent enough. It’s probably not that difficult to realize that it would be a prized possession. It looked better on leather.”

“Do we have anything else to tie it on with? I’d really like to have it back on.”

They both came up empty after searching through their packs and eyed the red silk with distaste.

“The garbage will do?” Sokka suggested.

“The four nations used to live in harmony. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. Besides, red is an Air Nomad color too,” Aang interjected.

“We can get something suitable in the North Pole. Surely we can’t be far now.” Katara frowned at the silk. Sokka nodded reluctantly. “It’ll just be for a few days.” Katara wrapped the silk ribbon around her neck. Sokka held the ice jewel steady, centered over her collarbones. It was far longer than the original leather band. Katara crossed the ribbon to secure it and brought the ends forward. Sokka tied it into a pretty knot tucked under the jewel.

“A flower,” he explained.

“Thank you, Sokka,” Katara gave her brother a hug.

For a while, Katara was able to ignore the new ribbon and just enjoyed the fact that she had recovered the jewel. Leather bands were not nearly as difficult to replace, only expensive. Then they arrived at the Northern Water Tribe city.

They were met in the waters outside the city and escorted inside by a small fleet. The chief greeted them and explained that they had arrived on his daughter’s birthday and there would be a feast that evening. The thought of a large spread of hot food was heavenly. And Katara was escorted into the palace and given the chance to bathe while her clothes were washed and pressed for her. She was euphoric.

“I’m Yue,” a girl a little older than Katara greeted her.

“I’m Katara. My brother Sokka and I brought the Avatar.”

“Yes, I saw your arrival. It is a pleasure to meet people from our sister tribe in the south.” Yue spoke quite formally. She must be the chief’s daughter. Katara summoned up the lessons she had been given by her mother and grandmother.

“I agree. It is a pleasure to meet our sister tribe in the north.”

“Come, let us not stand around talking. You have been travelling. You must want to get clean.” Yue started taking the ribbons and ties out of her hair. Katara pulled up her parka and set it off to the side before she started unbraiding her hair. “Oh! Your betrothal necklace… that’s such a striking band.”

“My necklace?” Katara frowned in confusion. “It was Gran Gran’s.”

“So you are not betrothed?” Yue was the one to frown.

“No. Is that what you do in the northern tribe: give necklaces?”

“Yes. Do you not?”

“We give gifts of food.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely.” Yue seemed to genuinely mean it. “So why did your grandmother have a red band?”

“It was leather. I broke it. Not on purpose! But we were attacked.”

“Oh!” Yue looked equally distressed at the idea. “You poor dear! We’ll have to get you a new one.”

“Yes. Unfortunately, this was the only thing to hand.”

“Well we’ll get you a proper leather band first thing tomorrow,” Yue nodded firmly. “Have to get that fixed. It’s a family heirloom.” Katara nodded as she picked the knot apart. Yue handed her a blue ribbon. “Use this instead, for the feast tonight.”

“Thank you.” Katara pulled the jewel free from the red ribbon and threaded it onto the blue one. At least this was proper water tribe cloth. She let the red ribbon fall to the ground.

Katara and Yue spoke briefly about the journey north, and finding the Avatar in a block of ice, while they bathed. Katara glossed over the more difficult parts of the journey and Yue kindly did not press. She was trying to enjoy the fact that she had soaps and perfumes and oils for the first time since she had left home. Even at home, these sorts of luxuries were only for occasions, not for everyday. It was obvious that the northern tribe had dealt less with the ravages of the Fire Nation. They clearly had managed to keep trading with the Earth Kingdom.

It was not until after the feast, wherein Sokka made a fool of himself trying to flirt with Yue, that Katara had a chance to consider what Yue had said about the necklace. She had always assumed that her Gran Gran had been born in the southern tribe. It was so difficult to get past the Fire Navy the entire length between the two tribes. However, Katara had seen Yue’s betrothal necklace. It was the same ice jewel, the only difference in the leather band was the color, and the pattern carved into the pendant was also similar. But then why would Gran Gran have left and cherished the pendant? Had Grandfather married her from all the way across the world? They said that they met while fishing. Katara rubbed idly at the jewel as she wondered what the story was. Eventually she would find out. Perhaps someone here had known Gran Gran when she was young. Or Katara would have to hold her questions until she had mastered water bending and could return home to ask Gran Gran herself. Katara tried to get some sleep. Grand Master Pakku said training began first thing at dawn.


End file.
